Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series (2025)
Chapter: Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses
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Appendix E
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Appendix E
Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses
Each component of the timeline from the breakout activity is represented as a table (Tables E-1–E-4) in this appendix. The prepopulated topics found on each board are listed in the first column. Text from each sticky note added by participants is captured in the second column. The tallies in the third column are votes cast by participants that indicate support or strong agreement with the comment on the corresponding sticky note.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
TABLE E-1 Prevention and Preparedness Board
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| National Contingency Plans | What are potential risks and what/where are resources? | |
| Find ways to increase and use the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF) for prevention | ||
| Add social science process to National Contingency Plan (NCP) to assess community impacts | ||
| Adopt the regional stakeholder committee process from AK nationwide. This incorporates local citizens in the NCP/Incident Command System (ICS) structure | ||
| Ensure Vessel Response Plans (VRPs) and Facility Response Plans (FRPs) contain specific language on preventing spills (e.g., shut-off valves, staffing, etc.) | ||
| Area Committees | Actively invite and encourage local agency and stakeholders to attend Area Committee (AC) meetings | |||| ||| |
| Invite/require community rep to share/report to agencies at every meeting | ||| | |
| Provide Federal On-Scene Coordinators (FOSC) more autonomous authority to stop the source without outside influence of politics | | | |
| Modernize communication to broaden participation | ||
| Partner with local universities or NGOs for hosting, speakers, and topics | ||
| Find better ways to engage the public in AC process. Not well advertised | ||
| Long-term recovery groups |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Update Area Contingency Plans | Include local community contacts and resources in spill plans | || |
| Joint training of grassroots people with their colleagues | | | |
| Complete contingency plans finance and public outreach | ||
| Comprehensive oil spill response plans that are tested | ||
| Make sure the SCERP [Small Community Emergency Response Plan] is included in the C –.-Plan so information is readily available | ||
| List of national and international resources | ||
| Design/engineering and risk assessments for wells/pipelines | ||
| Comprehensive oil spill response plans that are tested | ||
| Mobilize, update, or activate community mental health plans as you would any other response plan | ||
| Exercises and Drills | Integrate community engagement into drills (including tribal governments) | |||| ||| |
| Hold lessons learned symposium annually to ensure lessons are acted on | | | |
| Define volunteer liability in legislation or lack thereof so joint drills are possible | ||
| Ensure results of drills/exercises are added to ACPs | ||
| Provide funding opportunities to engage communities and share preparedness information | ||
| Miscellaneous | Oil Industries Response Fund | ||| |
| Build interagency community (industry, tribal, and nonprofit) relationships in advance, not just in meeting | ||
| Best practices for companies to strengthen culture |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Test Response Strategies | Pursue controlled, on-water spills per current laws allowing such. If not now, when? | || |
| Annual Public Report of Operators with Idle Iron and outstanding liabilities | | | |
| Test response strategies with modeling first, before field deployments | | | |
| Community involvement in testing and exercises so community members won’t be surprised | ||
| Test risk communications (content, modality, who/what/how) prior to event so comms strategy is rehearsed | ||
| Response Committee Meetings | Convene social scientists to identify existing data and infrastructure for baseline & longitudinal research designs (i.e. plan studies ahead of time) | ||| |
| Baseline measurements of water, air, land, and people | | | |
| Include state tribes and coastal churches | | | |
| Establish partnerships/sponsorships to bring food to meetings | | | |
| Create an Incident Response Pocket Guide for Oils Spills/watch out guide for field personnel | ||
| Research Oil Spill Science | Include social science as a science | |||| | |
| Barrel tax to fund research | |||| | | |
| Speak with response community for research needs from the “boots on the ground” perspective | | | |
| Set up global health observing system (Sandifer et al.) | ||
| Ask communities (systematically) about where the gaps are |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
TABLE E-2 Day of Oil Spill Board
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Spill Reported and Appropriate Notifications Made | Stakeholder input in ICS structure | |||| |
| Organize volunteer observers outside of SCAT aka PublicLab | | | |
| Who has jurisdiction? USCG, EPA, or State? | ||
| Inform Tribal Nations at the same time you would inform any other government level office, and before the public | ||
| Damage Assessment | 1. Incident objective = add engage community stakeholders | || |
| 2. Launch response website or online info about oil spills or add links about | ||
| Assess damage and impact on lives and environment | | | |
| Overflight to Assess the Scene | Is it determined that it is recoverable? | | |
| Notifications! Follow ACP call-list which is hopefully robust and includes locals/stakeholders/tribes | ||
| Drone operators and aerial control specialists to decongest air space | ||
| Patrol Boats Out to Set up Safety Zones | Safety of onsite personnel | | |
| Determine staffing needs/2 shifts? For IMT and field personnel | ||
| Miscellaneous | Community information website, meeting areas | || |
| Identify existing data and scientific infrastructure that can be mobilized | || | |
| Mobilize social scientists for rapid response data collection/analysis | ||
| Consider if dispersants or in situ burning (ISB) are needed. Quickly begin approval process through Regional Response Team (RRT) | ||
| Community Engagement | ||
| Vessels with Boom and Skimmers | Aerial support to local oil and direct effort | || |
| Determine if O/O has tested response plan. Ensure O/O engages, and plan deployed |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Incident Command System forms with Unified Command | Establish command structure, initiate communication plans, initiate data gathering | |
| Choose which model UC is using | ||
| Form stakeholder committee so that UC has to hear local concerns. Locals can also aid in the response by providing local input, so it is a two-way street | || | |
| Mobilize resources for oil spill cleanup, containment equipment, air quality, water monitoring | | | |
| Collect early baseline data of oil spill trajectory | | | |
| Air quality MSDA material what channel shall be communicating on VHF, CB, telephone? | ||
| Assessments (oil type, worst-case, weather, currents, trajectory, natural resource risk, response options) | Equipment and personnel available | |
| Mobilize assessment equipment to determine who and what is leaking | ||
| Distribute Press Release | Liaison officer and field representative | |
| If not recoverable, give financial status or spill history of company | ||
| Establish radio comms with on-water (local) for situational awareness and safety messages | ||
| Expedite press release process | ||
| Oil Spill Response Organizations (OSROs) | ||
| Begin Implementation Response Strategies | Inform impacted communities | | |
| Begin discussing GRP’s or environmental deployment | ||
| Triage assets mobilized until other assets are deployed | ||
| Perform NERA to frame response options |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Hold a Press Conference | Pre-identify trusted spokespeople for public interactions | ||| |
| Activate pre-identified spokesperson to take over comms responsibly | | | |
| Who is invited to the table for press release? An app for information dissemination would be amazing! | ||
| Social media team to cover online reporting | ||
| Understand and navigate the political climate such that an effective response can be implemented |
TABLE E-3 Early Days Post-Spill Board
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Robust Incident Command System Forms | Stakeholder input in ICS structure | ||| |
| Organize volunteer observers outside of SCAT aka PublicLab | | | |
| Begin tribal notifications and, if necessary, govt to govt consultations | | | |
| Start open-house style public meetings for updates | ||
| Did you activate your tribal OSC or oil spill planning coordinator? | ||
| Start Air Monitoring | Have social works assigned to assist those in need due to loss of livelihood or are directly impacted by the spill and responses | | |
| Communicate operational risks, schedule, and contingency plans to address immediate response objectives | ||
| Begin Shoreline Protection, Assessment, and Cleanup | Communicate early and often, even if information is incomplete | || |
| Activate local long-term recovery committees in areas available | | | |
| Do as many flyovers as quickly as possible before air space is closed | ||
| Deflection boom anchor. Check the tide? | ||
| Clarify comms policy for all participants |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Begin Wildlife Recovery and Rehabilitation | HAZWOPER trained rehabilitators and veterinary specialists | |||| |
| Engage members of relevant area committee | | | |
| Monitoring bear watch | ||
| Continue On-Water Response | Get real-time spill update and asset/people picture | | |
| Assess Need for Additional Alternative Response Technologies | Engage the community early to identify resources needing protection that are generally not recognized as important | ||| |
| Include industry participation during spill technology discussions | | | |
| Initiate Section 7 & 106 Consultations | Work with local, state tribes and churches contacted ahead of time | ||| |
| Close or Restrict Fisheries | Speed up fishery reopening process and inform public of status | |||| | |
| Clear dead fishes | |||| | | |
| Community members need to understand/know the criteria for closing/reopening fisheries | | | |
| Close Ports if Necessary | If closed, Marine Transportation System Recovery Unit (MTSRU) will focus on how to reopen | |
| Assess the Impact on Local Public | Have a social science specialist lead social impact needs assessment (early scan) | |||| ||| |
| Collect social/community impacts data | | | |
| Assess for cultural assets/historical markers etc. Discuss correct tactics | ||
| Assess Expected Economic Impacts | Mobilize replacement staff early to avoid burnout of responders | ||| |
| Identify human health baseline data (what exists, what gaps need filling?) | ||
| In contingency plans |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Begin Collecting Damage Assessment Data | Align damage assessment data collection with other data needs | |
| Determine Cleanup Endpoints | Get fishers to the areas where they are able to fish before areas are closed | |
| Tested with fixes and determined quickly | ||
| Effectiveness of compensation for fishers and the workers on boats | ||
| Press Conferences and Stakeholder Briefings | Earlier | || |
| Social media specialists | | | |
| Often, on multiple platforms, in multiple languages, involve community ambassadors | | | |
| Must include open and honest info to the public, info is so generic and scrubbed of important details by lawyers | ||
| Begin Claims Process | Provide FREE support for understanding claims processes | |
| Recognized signage for official claims offices | ||
| Have you tested your claims process? Have you deployed your comms plan for claims awareness? | ||
| Document Decisions, Actions, Data, etc. | Documentation needs to happen constantly | |
| Miscellaneous | Evaluate need for worker housing |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
TABLE E-4 Longer-term Recovery and Restoration Board
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Continue On-Water Response Activities | Honest and open info provided to communities in terms of threats and what can they do right now? | | |
| Fix gaps in timely response and causes for spill through legislation or regulation | ||
| Communicate about choice of response and potential problems | ||
| Continue Shoreline Protection, Assessment, and Cleanup Activities | Have social workers assigned to assist those in need due to loss of livelihood or are directly impacted by the spill and responses | | |
| Hold community education workshops about long term recovery --> speak hard truths and work together for solutions | ||
| Continue Wildlife Recovery and Rehabilitation | Fund citizen science for mammals – fin ID, acoustic | | |
| Cross-pollination is needed now to make sure that knowledge is not lost | ||
| Existing/local restoration practitioners | ||
| Specialized veterinary expertise; develop and maintain personnel and facilities ready to deploy | ||
| Maintain surveillance assets – keep assets on critical species areas – continue wildlife recovery team | ||
| Test Seafood for Safe Consumption to Reopen Fisheries | Develop/maintain trusted and informed group of community/academic spokespeople | || |
| Use protected area assets for sample collection | | | |
| Introduce aquaculture to compliment fisheries | ||
| Epidemiologists are essential; we can improve by pre-designing seafood risk assessment frameworks | ||
| Data and analytics | public release for use and learning | Institutionalize | ||
| Wind Down Response Activities as Appropriate | It’s a crappy system but don’t tear it apart without a better model | ||| |
| Where are the communities? | || |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Begin the Sign-off Process for Shorelines | Check the tide book for high tide and low tide | |
| Debrief Lessons Learned and Review/Update Area Contingency Plans | Hold lessons learned symposium | Make A.C. meetings talk this out | || |
| $ for training joint learning and hands on – grassroots | | | |
| Need to improve lessons learned and turn them into action items, also need better process for making sure lessons learned are incorporated into operations | | | |
| Record videos of key local reps to share experience and knowledge | | | |
| Solution-driven lessons learned | | | |
| Update prep exercise guidelines to expand social disruptions | ||
| Review financial weakness of operators in planning region to prepare for spill volumes | ||
| Protected area staff and partners | ||
| Long-term Monitoring, Restoration, and Research | Need reliable funding to ensure consistency of long-term monitoring | |||| |||| |
| Inter-disaster/oil spill research and baselines, in particular public health and social science research | ||| | |
| Exposure of children to residual oil | ||
| Citizen monitoring programs | ||
| Safety first | ||
| Longitudinal mental health, economic, and social impacts monitoring | ||
| Resource $ for non-profits responding | ||
| More with Cedre | ||
| Identify knowledge gaps associated with spill particulars | ||
| Utilize local fisherman to assist in long-term monitoring |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
| Topic | Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous | Long-term psycho-social effects response | NAS committee (GRP) to consider optimal metrics for above | | |
| Communications to community | goals of clean-up | | | |
| Transfer mental health support to integrated sustainable programs | | | |
| Maintain records, knowledge, etc. So that we can learn from the past to inform the future. Institutional knowledge is important! | | | |
| Publish together with community and academia | ||
| Engage in developing social restoration projects | ||
| Transparent accountable claims process | ||
| Expand community outreach – explain plan forward – keep medical people | ||
| Label bags; protective clothing | ||
| Keep and expand communications |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix E: Washington, D.C., Breakout Activity Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
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